Aethersky
by Etchers
Summary: The story of Deidara's life in Iwagakure before he joined the Akatsuki. Rated M for sexual content and graphic violence in later chapters.
1. Introduction to Aethersky

"Do you ever wonder what's up there and shit un?" Deidara mused openly to the red haired boy beside him. The grass felt wet under his back, rain was such a rare thing in Fire Country that he felt slightly upset that he had missed it. That upset very quickly turned to anger as he scowled up at the purple sky. The smoke from the war had given the sky in this area a constant shade of violet.

"Yes sometimes, although I must say the stars are a pretty incredible sight all by themselves" The boy put his two hands beside his head, moving closer to the blonde beside him. _'God he's beautiful '_ he thought to himself, his olive-green eyes glinting in the moonlight. He tried to bury his feelings as quickly as he could in case he spurted them out.

"If God does look down on us, I hope he sees our pain and knows he's the cause of all of it for making us in the first place, that bastard un" shouted Deidara angrily up at the sky. The full moon cast a glow on the side of his face that was not disguised by a mass of blonde hair.

"You get angry at the weirdest things, you need to mellow out a little, go blow up something" The red haired boy said sadly, his friends mood swings had gotten more and more unpredictable as the war went on.

"I'll have plenty of stuff to blow up tomorrow un." answered Deidara, his voice a little quieter, his tone more even. Although the prospect of exploding a few Konoha nin brought him a little joy, he still didn't like killing people. He couldn't understand how Seta, who seemed much more at peace than him, killed other nin so easily and fluidly and with not a speck of emotion

"People aren't that interesting to blow up and the Konoha nin blow up the same as anyone else, not all that special really" Answered Seta, matching Deidara's tone perfectly. He had a habit of doing that, copying other people vocal tones and their speaking habits although he had not uttered an 'un' yet._ 'Deidara would definitely notice that'_ he pondered.

"Still fun to blow something up. Hey Seta…" asked Deidara, his voice reminiscent of his younger self. More quiet and soft-spoken, less aggressive and over-confident. He doubted Seta had ever seen that side to him before. He kept it hidden from the world outside of himself.

"Yes Deidara" He asked timidly. The moon seemed to dip in the sky, casting a perfectly round shadow on the lake to the right of them. He wanted to jump into it, he was expecting a love confession and he didn't know whether he felt that way about the blonde boy yet.

"What do you think the point of any of this is?" Deidara said calmly, his eyes seemed watery but Seta thought that must be a trick of the light.

"I don't know, be happy, get married, or if I'm you, blow stuff up" Seta answered, laughing at his own idea that this boy, of all boys, would randomly give a confession of love. He cursed himself for his own stupidity.

"Fuck off Seta" spat Deidara, back to his old self in a moment. He rolled over onto his front, letting the grass soak through the front of his uniform. His body now touched Seta's all the way to their feet. He curled his legs around the red-head and turned to look him in the eyes.

"Sure I will, but you have to fuck off first, Can I… kiss you by the way?" Seta muttered, the insult having to start the sentence, or the affectionate question would have too much weight. This would be only the second time they'd ever kissed and he felt the fear rise up from his belly, his hands automatically filling with chakra.

Deidara moved closer until their faces were nearly touching, their noses millimetres from each other. "Go ahead."


	2. Chapter One: The Missing Six

**Iwagakure, ten years earlier.**

"No" his Mother repeated from her chair, straightening herself up to look over the desk and into the eyes of the Principle, her long blonde fringe obscuring most of her face.  
The balding man in front of them let out a loud sigh, standing up and walking around the desk to look down upon the young boys' Mother. His eyes held a pity that most people held when they looked upon the woman in front of them. She was well used to the scrutiny though and she rose to face it.

It had only been five years since they had tried to force her to live with the other people injured during the ten-year war with Suna. 'A lovely housing facility for you and others to live out your days in peace' was what they had called it but she knew better. It was only the ones with obvious wounds that were sent there, the people who the village thought of as now undesirable. It was a prison; a rose by any other name would still smell as terrible.

She scowled back at the man as he leaned down to her eye level patronizingly.  
"He needs the special tuition, he is not all there, there's something wrong with your boy and you're too blind to see it" he said, a hint of venom in his voice.  
This was the fourth time this week the Mother and son had been called in and the six year old hated it. He hated the way this ugly man spoke to his Mother but he couldn't fully understand why, because he hated how most people spoke to his Mother. She pulled herself forward in her chair, jabbing one finger of her good hand into the tall man's chest.

"No" she answered, her tone even but with an edge.

The Principle walked around to the side of the chair, his arms folded. He leaned down to look into the face of the child who was standing with his hand on the wheel of the chair. "Kinta Deidara, would you like to move to a special class?" His Mother immediately put her hand on the boy's and turned her chair, spinning the wheels and taking the man by surprise. He jumped away to avoid his foot being crushed. She answered the question for Deidara as she wheeled her way to the exit. "Asking a six year old child will not change my mind, regardless of his answer". Deidara caught the man smiling as he was leaving and his Mother's chair came to a halt as the Principle spoke once again. "Then Kuroki-chan, the Tsuchikage will see you in his office in an hour". She left without saying a word, slamming the door behind her.

"Bastard" she uttered as soon as they were alone.

"What does that mean?" Deidara asked puzzled by this new word. He liked how it sounded coming out of his Mothers mouth, how she spat it. He liked words but he could never come up with the right ones to say and he could never remember them when he wanted to write them down.

"It means he wasn't very nice Dei, it's a word that only Mother's can use so don't repeat it" she answered, the voice soft as if a minute ago she wasn't bitterly angry. She never spoke as she did in the office to Deidara, he was always scared when she spoke like that but now that she was back to normal, he was happy again.

"Kay" he said, nodding his head furiously and smiling widely at his Mother.

As they came to the end of the corridor, the winding stairs beckoned to be walked towards them. Deidara scrunched up his face, stood straight and put his hand to his chest in the Iwa army salute.

"My little soldier, you know what your job is don't you?" she questioned him, her eyes wide as he nodded wildly again. He stood behind the chair and held it tight as she lowered herself onto the first step, her breaths loud and even and she turned around on the step, what was left of both her legs resting on the second step.

"Are you lost, do you need some help?" said a voice from behind Deidara, the boy kept hold of the chair and turned his head a little to see who the sound was coming from. His eyes met with an Iwa nin in their token red undershirt. His floppy, long black hair the exact opposite of Deidara's short blonde hair, cropped close to his head. As he looked up at the ninja, he shook his head and murmured "No".

His Mother who had been listening to the exchange was quick to interrupt the conversation. "No what, Dei?"

Deidara blushed lightly as the man walked around to see where the voice was coming from, to be met by Kuroki nearly lying on the stairs. "Oh… I'm sorry. I'll leave now".

The nin quickly walked down the stairs and was out of sight within seconds.

"No… thank you." Deidara answered quietly, resuming his military stance as he continued with his task. Pushing the chair alongside his Mother as she made her slow descent down the stairs.  
It took them over fifteen minutes to finally reach the bottom, luckily not meeting anyone else.

Deidara then helped her back into her chair, giving her his arm to lean on which she grasped with her good hand, her other hand, a misshapen lump hidden within a glove.

The streets of Iwa were packed with people, most people walked with their heads tilted as the sunlight that filtered through the clouds would hurt anyone who raised their heads to meet it. Stray vultures and sickly looking crows perched on the abandoned shops, building their nests in the gutters and peering down on the pathetically thin beggars who hugged the corners of the streets, shading themselves under the large brown stone buildings. The reparations that were paid to the Sand after the last war, had taken the feet out from under Iwagakure's economy and all money that Iwa had now was being pumped into the military and the village's defenses. The villagers were suffering; even though Deidara felt bad for thinking it, he was glad those people were there so he and his Mother didn't have to be.

They moved slowly through the crowd, not speaking until Deidara got an idea and blurted it out loudly. "When we're done seeing the t…t…tkage can we go get ice-cream?" A few heads turned as his voice, which he had planned to keep quiet, had exploded out of him, sending a few crows flying from their perches. His Mother quickly put her finger on her lips and answered "Shush, quiet voice now Dei, if you're good we'll get you a big bowl of ice-cream". Deidara smiled as he continued to walk, his stomach was full of butterflies at the thoughts of the ice-cream that was waiting for him once he was done talking to that bastard Tsuchikage. He liked how the word sounded in his head but he didn't test his luck to say it out-loud. If it was a Mother's word when people can hear it, it wasn't one in his head. He continued calling people it in his thoughts._ 'Ko is a bastard, she pushed me down when we were playing. My Sensei is a bastard, he hits me when I do something wrong. Bastards, bastards, bastards.'_ he smirked to himself, only interrupted when a young girl, probably a few years older than him, stopped in front of his Mother chair. She was holding her own Mother's hand tightly as her expression turned to one of fear. "Is that a monster Mummy, look at her face is all wrinkly on one side and she has no legs… look Mummy look!". The Mother of the girl very quickly walked away, dragging her child with her. Deidara thought _'That girl is a bastard too'_. He really wanted to say it out of his head but he knew if he did he'd get in trouble so he settled for the next thing that came into his head. "I want to punch her lights out un" he snarled, realising that he had made the mistake of saying "un" again and covering his mouth with both hands and flinching.

In school, he was used to his Sensei coming down from his desk and hitting him on the back of the head with a textbook. It didn't hurt but it knocked him out of reality and made his head spin. He wasn't allowed to say that word, it was bad but he couldn't stop. He kept trying but he still slipped up. Kuroki frowned and Deidara instantly felt terrible, his Mother was starting to hate that stupid word too, he didn't want her to start hitting him too and being mean to him like she was to the Principle.

"Dei…" She said, stroking his cheek as they stopped in the road. Receiving scowls from angry pedestrians.

"Dei, I'm not angry you said un, I was just sad you were mean about that girl, some people are ignorant and they don't know any better"

Deidara leaned his face into her hand as his Mother began to smile. "But she was mean to you, she said you were a monster woman, that's not very nice…"

She took her hand off his face slowly, making sure to ruffle his hair before she placed his hand on the wheel of her chair. "You wheel that side for me Dei, the place where my thumb used to be hurts, and be a good boy and I'll tell you a story". The boy took the wheel, this was an old ritual. He knew all of her stories but he always pretended not to remember because he liked hearing them again.

"Do you know when I was eighteen, all the boys wanted to marry me?" Kuroki asked, as they both pushed the wheels, perfectly in sync.

"Really?" Deidara answered. He knew the story really well but he tried to not seem like he knew so he asked as if he was in shock. He put his other hand on his mouth to cover a pretend gasp.

"Yep, all the boys would leave flowers at my door and ask me on dates. Whenever I would walk down the street, a new boy would confess his love for me. I'd have to use my stealth ninjutsu to hide from them or I'd never get anywhere. I'd have to stop and say no thank you, over and over"

The boy interrupted, speaking over her as she began the next part of the story. "Did my Daddy ask you to marry him and give you flowers like the other boys?"

His Mother shook her head and smiled, enjoying her time to reminisce. "Nope, whenever I saw him. He was always standing near the gates of the village but of all the boys, I thought he was the most handsome and he never ran after me or gave me flowers so I decided to ask him on a date instead."

Deidara was so wrapped up in the story; he almost crashed into an old man who was walking his dog. "Sorry" he shouted after him and the old man tipped his hat.

"Good boy, remembering to say sorry when you bump into someone is also good manners, where was I in the story… oh yes, so one day I was hiding in the shadows and I stepped out beside your Daddy and I asked him_ 'Yintama, do you like me like all the other boys do?'_ And he said_ 'Well I don't know you so how could I know if I like you?'_"

"Then what happened" whispered Deidara, making sure to use his quiet voice.

"I took him on a date to my favourite restaurant and we stayed there until closing time and we talked and talked. We fell in love almost immediately and were married a month later. When he kissed me on the alter, all the boys who'd given me flowers were jealous of him"

"My Daddy was special" Deidara muttered, nodding his head at his own statement.

His Mother looked off into the distance, what seemed like a tear appearing in the corner of her good eye, almost impossible to see in the harsh light. Deidara was too busy making sure not to walk into anyone else as he wheeled his side of the chair to notice. The story was over but his Mother continued anyway.

"All the girls of the village whose men I had refused called me a cradle snatcher". She added quietly.

The words were not lost on Deidara who immediately was fascinated by this new bit of information. "Why would you steal a cradle for? Was it for me when I was borned?"

His Mother immediately burst into loud, raucous laughter, sending even more crows flying from their perches. She rubbed some tears from her eyes as she spoke, "You always know how to cheer me up Dei, a cradle snatcher is someone who dates or marries someone who people think is too young for them, when I married your Daddy, he was seventeen and I was twenty one, they were only jealous though".

The boy was delighted with this new information; he liked learning about his Dad. He was aware that he looked more like his Mother than he looked like his Dad. He put that new piece of information away with all the other stuff he had been told about his Dad. He knew he was really tall, with brown eyes and black hair. That he grew up in an orphanage and he was a ninja who used rocks to crush bad guys. He didn't know one important thing though and he decided to ask his Mother again, maybe this time she'd tell him.

His Mother stopped wheeling her side of the chair suddenly, causing Deidara to fall forwards a little but he stopped before he fell. Turning around to his Mother and climbing into her arms and hugging her close.

"What happened to my Daddy?" he asked quietly, looking in her one radiant blue eye. The scarred part of her face and the empty eye socket were covered by her long, blonde fringe.

Her face twisted in what seemed like physical pain at the question as she turned Deidara around on her thigh and leaned around him to point at the building. "There's the Kage's office!" The boy was distracted for a moment at the massive stone building in front of them. It was the highest building in the village. He answered her by just saying "That seems like more stairs than there are to Heaven".

Kuroki flinched at the mention of Heaven and nodded from behind him. "Well you'll be my brave little soldier and help me, won't you?"

The stairs had taken just under a half hour to climb, they were long, winding and steep and although Kuroki was better at climbing up stairs, it still meant they were very late for their appointment and the tiny man hated when people were late.

The walls were adorned with detailed paintings of great ninja and as they travelled quickly up the corridor. Deidara looked at them with interest, they were so detailed he could see every leaf on every tree. He wished he had time to look at them more closely but his Mother insisted that they arrive as soon as possible at their destination. The door to the Kage's office was large and made of solid gold, Deidara could see his reflection in it as his Mother knocked on the door, accidentally using her bad hand and wincing from the pain. As she recovered, Deidara stepped forward, reaching out to knock on the door, but it swung open before he had the chance. He was a little sad because he wanted to touch the gold. He'd never seen gold before, never mind touched it.

The man that stood before him was the shortest man he'd ever seen. He was only as tall as Deidara himself. The boy wondered how this could possibly be the strongest nin in the village. He looked like a strong wind could knock him over. Deidara tried to hold in his giggles and he walked in with his Mother. He was happy the Kage wasn't as scary as he thought he'd be. He was expecting a big man, as tall as a tree with big muscles that could squash a boy like him flat. This man wasn't scary at all!

"You're late." the short man said calmly as he walked around and pulled himself up on his seat. Even in his chair he wasn't taller than his Mother.

"You have a lot of stairs." answered his Mother, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke. Deidara looked at her oddly, not understanding why his Mother was scared.

The man banged his fists loudly on the desk in front of him and pulled himself forward. "That is no excuse" he shouted, his voice echoing off the walls and hurting Deidara's ears. "I sent men to help you and as usual you refused help, just as you always do, you stupid woman." his yells caused the two guards who were standing sentry behind him to quiver. His Mother looked terrified. Deidara started to whimper audibly and the Kage stopped and leaned back on his seat, he looked upset that he had caused the boy to react like that.

Kuroki let the silence draw out for a moment and then spoke "I am sorry Sir; I won't let it happen again".

The Kage nodded and addressed the matter at hand. "Your boy needs to be in the special class in the academy, I am dealing with this matter personally because you were once a great ninja. Your title of Shadow Nin was well earned but this boy is not the ninja you were. I am told by his Sensei that he often falls down in the playground and does not make a sound. He does not seem to have the mental capacity to feel pain. He broke his leg in the playground and just sat there until someone came and got him. He didn't cry".

His Mother, obviously shaken by the outrage that had come before this, was a lot less combative than she was with the Principle. "He is just a quiet, uncomplaining child"

The Kage continued as if she hadn't spoken, "Kuroki-chan, his Sensei has also said to me that his speech impediment is just getting worse as the days roll by, a speech impediment that is the product of low self-control. I ordered that he receive a special surprise test last week and he has made no progress, he still can't spell his name nor read. " he stated bluntly.

His Mother sat up straight in her chair and met the eye line of the Kage but it was obvious from the look on her face that she knew she was defeated. "I am tutoring him and I assure you as a former nin under your command that he is getting better".

The Kage sighed, his eyes filled with a fake kind of sympathy as he spoke, "Deidara, will you please come here and write your name on this piece of paper?" The child turned to Kuroki and she nodded, giving him permission to go. He walked up, his hands shaking as he took the pen from the Kage's hand. "My… name?" he asked. The old man just smiled a wide fake smile. He wrote it as quickly as he could and then ran back to his Mother's side. The Kage looked sad as he held the piece of paper up so Kuroki could see it. The uneven scrawl ran across the page almost vertically, the characters wide apart and parts of them were written backwards.

His Mother smiled at Deidara but the boy felt like he was going to cry, he knew he did it wrong but sometimes the letters just wouldn't stay still on the page. He felt his Mother's soft hand brush his face. "You did the best you could, don't worry, now can you count to a hundred for the Kage?" The man automatically spoke as she finished her sentence, stopping Deidara before he could even get to 'one'. "That is not necessary." Kuroki ignored him and nodded to Deidara who was happy to be asked to do something other than writing. He loved numbers, they made sense to him. They had a pattern and a rhythm that he understood. Regardless he was still very nervous to count in front of this important man and the mean glare the Kage was giving his Mother made him want to cry. He sniffled and began, "One, two, three, four, five, …seven, … that was wrong un". He began to hysterically cry and crawled into his Mother lap. The short man sighed deeply from his chair. "He'll start in his new class on Monday, no more excuses Kuroki-chan. His new Sensei will try his best to correct your child's retardation".

As she wheeled the crying boy out of the door, he stopped and turned to his Mother. "Pleases and Thank You's?" he asked through tears. His Mother kissed the top of his head. "None for him, Dei."


	3. Chapter Two: Water Under the Bridge

**Three Years Later**

"Kinta Deidara, at what time of the year do the leaves fall from the trees?" his sensei for the last two years asked him, sneering down at him from his position at the top of class. He sat on a chair that towered over all of them, Deidara mused that it was because he liked to feel powerful but he'd only ever told his best friend that.

"At all times of the year Sir un" he answered sarcastically. The old speech problem was the focus of great anger from his sensei. He got down from his throne immediately and slapped Deidara forcefully on the back of the head. "Turn to page 301 of your text book and read to me and the rest of the class the correct answer" Sensei Takahashi barked.

Deidara's face instantly flushed red as he turned the pages, focusing on the numbers at the bottom as staring at the text always gave him a headache. Takahashi always did this, forcing him to read when he'd done something wrong. The words squiggled under Deidara's vision. He'd try but he knew he'd fail and be hit again, not that his Sensei needed an excuse. The blonde boy focused his attention on his best friend, who at the time was staring out the window scrawling doodles with his pen. His brown hair the perfect example of the colours of Autumn.

"In… Autumn… the leaves… the leaves… are… br..own and star..t to fall fro…m the trees in early Mov..Movembener" Deidara stuttered over his words, his head immediately feeling light and his stomach lurching. He flinched waiting for the strike to happen. The room went silent as Takahashi hit him, striking him repeatedly around the head with a plastic binder.

"November, you stupid child" he spat as the assault came to a close.

Deidara gripped his injured head with his hand, looking up from his desk. The room span before his eyes and the figures of the boys and girls in front of him shuddered out of focus. His stomach heaved as he went a violent shade of green. He tried his best to force chakra into his stomach to quell the sudden uncomfortable feeling. Unfortunately that only caused all his lunch to push up his throat and out his mouth, coating his desk and his teachers shoes in the remains of his egg salad sandwich.

Takahashi took a step back, flicking his shoes as he went. The vomit had began to seep into his socks and he turned white with sheer disgust. "Kinta Deidara, get out of my classroom now and come back in when you're not going to do** that** again" he commanded and stormed back to his seat.

Deidara stood up from his desk and made his way towards the door. The world span before his eyes and he banged into a few tables on his way. None of the other students paid much notice to him apart from his best friend who looked up at him and gave him a nod, his face as expressionless as always.

The blonde pushed the door open, half falling into the near empty school yard. He could see some young nin play fighting in the distance. He wanted nothing more than to join in but he could barely throw a kunai. The Principle had decreed that it was way too dangerous to let "The Special Class" do anything but read the same textbook, meant for five year olds, over and over again.

The Autumn leaves fell from the trees and swirled around his feet. He smiled as he sat down on the cold grass and leant against a tree. He pondered whether to just walk away, stand up and go to the stream and skim pebbles until it was time to go home. The school had stopped calling his Mother in to speak to the Principle when he got in trouble for talking back in class so he presumed they also wouldn't call her if he skipped class. She would come in and start an argument with the Principle and he would get ice-cream and then they'd just go home. She knew how bored he was and how horrible school was for him, she wouldn't shout at him just for making it more entertaining. He looked up into the blue sky. It was getting colder and colder by the day. He knew it would be a harsh Winter and his Mother and him would have to start hoarding fire wood. He didn't mind the job though, he loved her company, always had.

He was woken up from his daydream suddenly by two boys, the taller of the two had decided to give him a sharp kick in the side.

"What's your problem?" Deidara growled, rubbing his side as he spoke. The two boys in front of him leaned in close. The taller of the two, walking around to the side of the tree and sitting down beside Deidara. The other boy just stood there, jumping from foot to foot nervously.

"Nothin, jus seeing if someone from the retard class would actually do anything if we kicked him" The boy sitting beside him answered, his hair was a silvery grey and fell in long strands framing his chubby face. The blonde knew of him, he beat up other kids a lot and he remembered his name was Kin. His Mother had told him that Kin's Dad was a heavy drinker and often panhandled for change in the town square.

"Do it again and I'll… kick you back un" Deidara said nervously, he was used to people picking on him for being in the "Special Class" but his high pain tolerance meant, even with his lack of ninja skills, he was hard to beat.

"Aiko, we got a feisty one here, you gonna fight us ya virgin faggot" Kin taunted, laughing loudly.

Aiko just stood and stared, cracking a wide fake smile when the other boy started to laugh.

"No… I don't want to fight, what do you want?" Deidara asked. Remembering how worried his Mother had been when he broke his nose in his last fight. The hospital journey had been horrible, she'd hung off him and nearly started crying a few times. He thought it was best to placate the bullies, they obviously wanted something.

"We wanna be your friend so we do" the boy offered, a smile stretching across his face. Two clear dimples appearing on his freckled cheeks.

"Really?" Deidara sputtered, suddenly happy that these two ninja wanted to be his friends. He wondered if they could teach him how to throw a kunai. He eyed the weapons that were strung around their waists.

"Yeah, ya goin to the Autumn Festival tonight?" he droned, his voice suddenly even when before it had been full of laughter. Deidara presumed that this was his test, that these boys were going to force him to do something to prove his worth.

"Probably, My Mother and I go every year un" he answered quietly. He shrugged his shoulders and moved farther away from the boy who was now sitting uncomfortably close to him.

"Ya hear that Aiko, he goes with his Ma" Kin said, laughing loudly again.

Aiko who up until this point had been completely silent decided to interject. To the displeasure of Kin who immediately started to scowl.

"You have to bring someone and kiss them when the lanterns get placed in the river at the Autumn Festival".

"Shut up Aiko" the dimpled boy ordered. The malice in his voice obvious to both Aiko and Deidara. Aiko stood back, his honey blonde hair shaved on one side. It reminded Deidara of his Mother's despite his better judgement. He immediately liked the quieter boy.

"Whatever un" Deidara murmured.

"Ya have to bring someone ya can kiss, unless ya wanna kiss your Ma?" Kin pointed out, standing up from his place on the grass and walking over beside Aiko, giving him a rather vicious punch on the arm. They both started to walk away before Deidara could answer them.

He stood up and shouted back at the two boys, "Well then I'll bring someone I can kiss!".

"If you don't and you bring your Ma. We'll beat ya up tomorrow and you're not allowed to be our friend" shouted Kin, not even turning around to say goodbye to the blonde boy.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Deidara decided to go back into class and was given a full blown lecture on self-control, which he took without comment. He was aware that if he said anything sarcastic or combative he'd be forced to go to detention. He had someone to ask to the Autumn Festival.

He was placed in his best friend Yusushi's team for maths and did his work for him. His friend didn't do work in class. They got ninety nine percent but whether Yusushi cared or not, Deidara was not sure. The boy hadn't spoken a word since he was born and a lot of people said he was dumb. Deidara didn't think so because Yusushi drew the most beautiful pictures in minutes in the corners of his textbook.

The bell that sounded at the end of class let out its shrill ring early and they all left. Except for the few who were forced to take extra classes. He'd hate to be one of them again. When he first went into the "Special Class", he had been forced to stay behind for hours. Nothing ever got any better and he left class with an even more dizzy head than usual.

The playground was packed with children and the twelve and thirteen year olds were all heading towards the training grounds to train for their exams. Deidara remembered that his Mother was already a chunin at his age and he was filled with a sudden unhappiness. Yusushi gave him a pat on the back and Deidara looked up smiling. His friend may never speak or change expression but he always knew when the blonde was sad. That was good enough for Deidara. At least he didn't drink paint water like so many of their classmates or stab himself with pencils like Akane.

The two began the long walk home, taking the short cut around by the river-bank. Deidara believed that it actually took them twice as long to walk that way than through town, but he didn't mind. He liked to talk to Yusushi about everything, him not talking back meant no judgement was ever passed.

The shorter boy just drew in his sketch-book as they walked. Sometimes Deidara didn't talk at all, just letting the other boy draw as he watched. The blonde put his hand through his hair. It had gotten longer during the Summer, now it spiked in random, angular directions around his face. They'd been walking for a half an hour in silence before Deidara got up the courage to speak.

"Aiko and Kin, those boys who beat people up, they asked me to go to the festival with them, are you going un?" Deidara muttered, knowing that the brunette would definitely think less of him for wanting to associate himself with bullies.

The other boy just turned to him and gave him a long stare.

"Yeah, well I was going to go with my Mother but I have to take someone I can kiss" the blonde mumbled, his voice barely audible over the crashing water in the river beside them.

Yusushi reached over and just patted him on the head a couple of times, slow and condescending. Deidara knew that this boy would know more than him on the subject if he'd only speak. He was at ten, two years older than Deidara.

"Thing is I don't know any girls I want to kiss, everyone thinks Emiko is pretty but I don't understand what makes her the prettiest of the girls, I saw her pick her nose once un." The blonde lied. As the lie tumbled out of his mouth, he wondered what caused him to tell his best friend such a lie. The girls who gossiped in the playground lied about Deidara sometimes and spread rumours about him and he never liked that.

The brunette just passed him the picture he was drawing and Deidara smiled as he noticed it was a picture of Yusushi and him, they were both grinning wildly in it. The blonde folded the picture up and slipped it into his breast pocket.

"Well that was a lie… I didn't really see her do that but I don't think she's pretty… I don't think any of the girls are pretty un" Deidara confessed, he was finding it difficult to think of the right words to say.

Yusushi shrugged, pointing out a heron that had just flown from a tree, quickly sketching the bird in his sketch-pad.

The blonde smiled as the bird easily caught a fish from the river and flew away to eat its dinner in peace.

"I was wondering anyway… would you go with me?" Deidara sputtered, the brunette seemed to jump as he said it but the blonde just continued quickly.

"I don't know if I like girls but I do like boys sometimes, like some boys I think are prettier than girls and I don't want you to be my girlfriend and we don't have to kiss but can you go with me? Is liking boys the same as that grocer Tamotsu who the Tsuchikage put in jail for doing sex things to a horse?" spoke Deidara, sweat suddenly appearing on his brow as the confession began its freefall.

Yusushi stopped in his tracks and looked up at Deidara, the brunette's face twitching involuntarily. This was the most movement Deidara had ever seen in the boys face and it shocked him into silence.  
Then he looked down and when he peered back up, he was blushing. His face a bright shade of scarlet. He dropped his sketch pad onto the gravel path and began to run, pushing past Deidara and running in the direction of home.

The blonde held in his tears as he doubled back, intending to cross the bridge to make it back to the Village before dark. He needed to speak to his Mother about this, she wouldn't judge him and he'd just lost his best friend. He cursed himself as he walked_ 'stupid, stupid, stupid'._

He stopped at the bridge to the Rock Village, its stone stretching across a quieter part of the river. His Mother had instructed him to never swim here. Even though the river looked peaceful, the current underneath was not. Many younger boys and girls had drowned in the river and there were signs all along it, heralding danger.

His Mother had told him the story of this bridge many times. It had been built after the Rock Village had defeated Konoha and it was named "The Bridge of One Thousand Mornings". A travelling seer had said, they would have a thousand mornings of peace before they'd ever be attacked by Konoha again. No one believed her and she was laughed at but the premonition had came true, two and a half years later, they were attacked again.

The bridge had once been adorned in gold and silver but it had been quickly stripped off and sold by the poor of the Rock Village. It was now just an old, stone bridge. As run down and ugly as any of the nameless ones on the river.

As Deidara thought about this, trying to push what had happened with Yusushi out of his mind. He collided with a man standing, leaning over the side of the bridge.

"Watch it, kid" he scolded him as he heaved the cloth sack in his hands over the side and into the water.

Deidara moved up beside him and scowled as he saw the bag float. The man turned to walk away but Deidara who was always a nosy child shouted over at him. "What was in the bag, Sir?"

The man shrugged his shoulders, not even turning to acknowledge the blonde. He answered his question regardless. "Just some stupid dog".

Time froze for Deidara and the fear in his gut at the churning water was easily overridden by empathy. Everyone thought he was stupid and he wasn't. If they were allowed to, maybe people would have tried to drown him in the river. He looked over the edge of the bridge just as the cloth sack sank. He pinpointed its location in his head, the numbers ordered themselves, he roughly knew the depth if it was anything in relation to the width. He dove over the edge and immediately saw the bag, it was dark down here but he could see it. Then suddenly, the bag was caught by the current and turned itself around firing itself in his direction and straight into his chest. _'This must be from the Gods'_ he thought as he grasped the bag close to his chest.

He turned his body to push himself upwards and that is when he realised he was being pulled down by the current. He was quickly running out of air too. A few precious bubbles escaping his lips as he was dragged downwards. He felt like screaming but he realised he couldn't. Inhaling water would be what would drown him. He tried to clear his thoughts. Release the fear in his head. Clarity…

_'The current is pulling me downwards like it did with the bag, if I follow the same path, it will fire me up… I need to stop struggling and let it carry me'_

The drowning boy's body went limp as he held his breath, he'd been under for what felt like hours. The bag moved in his arms. He felt a small paw touch his hand through the cloth. _'Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay"._

He felt the current pull him under and then he was being fired upwards, that was his cue to kick his legs. He was slow to begin, his limbs felt like they didn't exist anymore. The push the current had gave him as well as his weakly kicking legs propelled him forward and his face hit the surface.

Sweet air filled his lungs, the nicest breath he had ever taken. He pulled himself towards the bank, terrified that the current would catch him again. This time it would not happily give up its prize.

He crawled onto the bank, he sunk a little into the mud before he collapsed forward. His limbs felt as though they were no longer attached to him. With his last ounce of strength, he tore open the cloth sack with numb fingers. The dog immediately crawled out, it was only a pup. It licked his face gently as he lay in the dirt. Its little black and tan face was the last thing he saw before he passed out.

_He dreamt of drowning. Taking his final breath in the cold water. His funeral, his Mother had her legs back and all the boys were giving her flowers and asking her to marry them… The dog as big as a house, chasing the man who tried to drown it._

He awoke to the sound of howling, a weight pressed down on his face and he struggled to pick himself up. It was then he noticed that the puppy was sitting on his cheek.

"What are you howling at un?" he asked the puppy, who jumped off to lick his face.

The answer to the question came immediately after as a firework exploded in the sky. The puppy began its long, out of tune howl again, wagging its tail as it did.

A few lanterns floated down the river twisting and turning, the badly-made ones sinking.

"I'll call you Hanabi then?" Deidara said groggily as he pulled himself up onto his feet.


	4. Chapter Three: Little White Lies

The streets of Iwa were deserted as Deidara walked home. His clothes were still caked in a layer of mud and his hair dripped water down his face. The Autumn air hurled itself at him and his clothes stuck to him in the wind. He shivered as he clung to Hanabi who howled loudly inside his coat every time her namesake, an illegal firework, made its journey into the air. The dogs wet fur soaked Deidara even further, making his teeth chatter as he walked.

The boy was nearly home when a woman with a flashlight shone a sharp white light into his eyes, startling him and making him jump back, nearly dropping Hanabi.

"Thank the Gods" she shouted, running at him and clinging to him. The bony lumps where her hands used to be digging into his back.

"Momoko?" he asked, knowing that he was in for a lecture. His Mother may never punish him or shout at him but her best friend was a different story. Kuroki and Momoko had met in hospital back in Iwa when his Mother and her were both recovering from their injuries. As Kuriko's old friends had drifted away after they became aware of her disfigurement, Momoko and her had just gotten closer.

"Your Mother was worried sick, you silly child. Where have you been all evening?" she screeched, clipping the boy around the ear. Deidara strayed from her hand but the blow still caught, causing him to nearly slip in the mud of the road.

"I… I… fell in the lake" he lied, staring down at the puddles that were starting to form around him. He was so cold that he had barely noticed that the icy rain was beginning to become torrential.

"You're soaked through, look at you! And what's that in your coat?" Momoko demanded, her arms crossed in anger as she stared at the blonde. Her long, curly, red hair either plastered to her arms or whipping around her in the wind, hitting Deidara in the face.

"It's a puppy, I found it… near the lake" he answered, his voice suddenly almost incomprehensible in the approaching storm. Unluckily for him, Momoko had perfect hearing and had picked up every single word of the lie.

"You stole someone's dog?" she asserted, her voice sharp as she asked the question.

"No, I found it… it was no one's dog" he shouted back, clinging to Hanabi. Although he'd only had the dog for a very short time, he knew he couldn't possibly let anyone take her from him. She was his friend.

"Let me see" Momoko stated, now calm as she noticed how attached Deidara was to the dog. She realised that it would be hard to get this dog off the boy but if she didn't take it. Kuroki would happily let him keep the pup, whether it was someone else's or not. Deidara zipped down his hood and the dog immediately poked her head out. The black and tan muzzle pointing upwards as she howled at another firework. She shivered and pulled herself back into his coat as the first of the thunder sounded. Deidara had heard that there was once a bad ninja from Konoha, that could turn into thunder. The stories he had heard about that nin had always scared him when he was younger.

"That's a pure-bred dog Deidara, it's a fighting dog, that is no stray, let me take it home and I'll put posters up around the Village, no need you getting attached to it" Momoko said sighing, knowing that he was indeed, already attached to the puppy. She was hopeful that immediately separating the two would cause the least damage but she was sure she would be taking a crying boy back to Kuroki tonight.

"No! Some man tried to throw it into the lake" the boy insisted.

Momoko looked at Deidara as she rubbed the scars criss-crossing her neck, that stretched down her back. They had itched since the day she had received them, nearly driving her demented sometimes.

"With all those people around? Are you lying to me Deidara? Where did you really find this dog?" Momoko questioned, her grey eyes focused on the boy. Now that she was sure of a lie, she would hunt the truth until the very end.

"A man threw it into the river and I jumped in and saved it" the blonde bellowed, trying to make the truth reach her. If she didn't believe him, he knew she'd take the dog. He only lied so as not to worry his Mother.

"Okay then, I trust you, you're going to catch your death if we stand out here, don't tell your Mother you jumped into that river though" Momoko said matter-of-factly, she was a straight-talking woman and she knew the truth when she heard it. It made sense to why Deidara was soaking wet, shivering and covered in muck.

The small house sat in front of them, warm light shining out from the two front windows. Deidara could see that their bedroom light was on too, as well as all the other lights of the house. That meant his Mother was worried, she only ever forgot to turn off the lights when her mind was preoccupied by something else. It was definitely the smallest house on the street, its roof was also the only one which was thatched with straw which actually made it warmer in Winter than the tiny apartment they'd lived in before.

Deidara ran ahead of Momoko and through the front door. He knew for a fact that the front door would be open. She never locked that when she was worried either. He nearly ran head first into her when he rushed in. She was sitting with her head in her hands, out of her chair, on the stairs up into their only bathroom.

She looked up as he came to a sudden stop in front of her, tears streaming down her face.

He leapt into her arms and hugged her tightly, almost forgetting the puppy who squirmed between them.

"What's that then?" she asked, wiping the tears from her face and smiling up at her son.

"That's Hanabi, some man tried to throw her into the river but I saved her" Deidara answered quickly, completely forgetting that he wasn't meant to tell her.

"I told you not to tell her that" Momoko sighed, as she took off her coat. Balancing it on the ends of her arms and throwing it up on the rack.

"You did what! One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack" Kuroki howled, putting her hands over her eyes in exaggerated shock.

"I'm sorry" Deidara whimpered, hugging her close to him. Forgetting that he was too old to be sitting on his Mother's knee and cuddling her.

"You were brave to save Hanabi but never, ever do that again, you could have died" she answered, rubbing fresh tears from her eyes.

"I nearly did, the current sucked me under and then I realised that if I followed the current it would spit me out again and it did, so I dragged myself onto the bank… and then I passed out" Deidara stated bluntly.

"By the Gods… just go and put on your pyjama's and eat your dinner, it's nearly cold and it's past your bed time already" she chided as Deidara jumped off her knee. He went to run into the kitchen, quickly changing direction and heading into their bedroom.

"Where are you going Deidara?" Momoko asked as she sat down beside her friend.

Kuroki looked as though she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.

"I have to tuck Hanabi into my bed first and bring her up some food" Deidara insisted.

Kuroki began laughing, having made her decision to not cry again tonight.

Momoko just nodded slowly.

"Well okay, just make sure you have some dinner left" Kuroki added quickly.

Deidara overheard the conversation as he tucked Hanabi into his bed. Her head poking out from above the covers as she wriggled a little before falling straight to sleep. Deidara had forgotten that the dog was covered in mud and now looking at the once completely white sheets, he remembered.

The voices drifted in from the hallway, "What possessed him to do that? He nearly died" his Mother whispered but not quietly enough.

"He's sure your son Kuroki, tell me you wouldn't have done the same." Momoko answered laughing loudly.

**That night.**

Deidara woke up suddenly to the sound of his new pet sneezing. He jumped up and hugged her tight to himself, terrified that she was sick. The dog just wriggled out of his arms and shook herself awake, walking over to the door to their bedroom. As Deidara looked around the room. He noticed that his Mother wasn't in her side of the bed and the time on the clock said it was four thirty in the morning.

He got up and followed the dog to the door, she was sitting patiently, waiting to be let out. Shaking her little stump of a tail and peering up at him with her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. Deidara was about to open the door, when he heard talking coming from the kitchen. He usually wasn't one to eavesdrop but tonight it seemed like a good idea, with the lies today and now this, he was starting to wonder if he was a bad person. The first voice was definitely his Mother and that other voice sounded like Momoko.

"If he hits you, you have to leave him".

"I will, it's just he's so high up in the police force. They'll come after me."

"I'll tell them you're not here, you can stay in the attic. The entrance is hidden. I made sure it was".

"For me?"

"Of course"

"It's just after I lost all those babies, it started, I feel like it's somewhat my fault"

He stood away from the door and lay backwards down on the bed. Sometimes they just forgot he was there and talked openly about it. This was an old conversation that Deidara had heard over and over again. He knew the whole story and his stomach filled with rage. He'd known Momoko forever and her husband beat her up. He came back from the war after she had and when she got out of hospital, his Mother had said he was never the same, had started drinking and gambling away all their money. The blonde still felt guilty about eavesdropping but leaned against the door a while later after the dog had started to whine to see if the discussion was finished. The conversation had taken a different turn.

"Kuroki, if the Tsuchikage ever finds out he'll kill you, you'll be branded a traitor, are you ever going to tell Deidara?"

There was a long pause then, which was filled mainly with Hanabi's soft whining.

"I will tell him…. when he's old enough to understand"

Deidara crawled back into bed after that and was plagued by so many questions that he couldn't sleep. By the time he finally fell asleep, it was nearly time to get up again.

**That morning**

The sun blinded him when he woke up. His alarm rang shrilly beside him and he hit it forcefully and dragged himself out of bed. The daylight filtering through the blinds and onto himself and his Mother who was snoring quietly beside him. As he pulled himself out of bed and threw on his clothes, he wondered about what he'd overheard. He trusted his Mother. He wanted to tell her that he didn't think she was a traitor but he knew if he did that she'd realise he was listening in. He decided it was best to just have his breakfast, go to school and come up with a way to talk to her about while he was bored in class.

As he placed his empty cereal bowl in the sink, he noticed an envelope sitting underneath his small satchel. On it, was his Mother's perfect writing. It said 'Take Hanabi with you, if Takahashi doesn't like it, give him this".

Deidara smiled as he ran too school, how was his Mother a traitor when she let him take his dog to school?

The large steel gates of the Iwa Ninja Academy rose in front of him as he came to a halt. Hanabi sitting beside him and leaning into his legs. The dog suddenly started to growl and he leaned down to pet her but the growling just got worse. She jumped back as a pair of hands gripped Deidara's throat and forced him against the fence.

"Ya think we'd forget about ya, did ya?" spat Kin as he pushed Deidara into the fence.

He could feel the cold steel numbing his back and he was tensing himself up for when the punches would start.

"No, I didn't, let me explain!" Deidara stated, he tried to force some confidence into his voice. What came out instead, was something that sounded incredibly apathetic.

"Let him explain, Kin" Aiko interjected from behind the two, the honey-blonde saving Deidara from a beating for the time being.

"Alright, alright, go on retard, tell me where ya were yesterday?" Kin answered, scowling at Aiko who just took a few steps back not wishing to be the one hit.

"I took Emiko and we kissed" reported Deidara calmly as he stood with his arms folded, forcing a smirk.

"Emiko, the hottest girl at the Academy? You kissed her. Don't make me laugh" Kin answered, laughing despite his comment.

"I did, I swear" Deidara smiled, leaning against the fence and looking through the bars, pretending to look for Emiko. It was then he noticed that Hanabi was behind him and he nearly tripped over her. She was cowering under his legs.

That seemed to calm Kin down a bit as he turned and grasped Aiko shoulder "Well me and the loudmouth here will investigate, we're genin so we'll find out if you're lying".

As the two walked out of sight and into the Academy, Deidara slumped onto the path and tried his best to think of a solution. Thankfully, one presented itself to him in the form of three girls who wandered up to him and poked at him gently.

"What's wrong Deidara?" the tallest one asked, making sure to pronounce the syllables slowly so he could understand.

The blonde took his head out of his hands and looked up, the girls all had short pink hair and were dressed nearly identically.

They had spread rumours about Deidara before and because of that he despised them. Although they caused him nothing but trouble, he decided that they were an obvious solution to his problem.

"I kissed Emiko at the festival and now I think she found out I was in 'The Special Class' and doesn't like me anymore" he answered, pressing his face into his knees again and pretending to cry loudly.

The shortest of the pink haired girls screeched at this fake piece of gossip and shouting, "That's why she didn't go to the festival with Daiko!"

There was quiet for a while as the leader of the group once again spoke to Deidara before they walked off. "We won't tell anyone Deidara, I promise". The strolled off then, giggling amongst themselves.

He waited for the playground to quiet down again before he walked up to his class. The dog trailing behind him. He tried not to be mad at her for being such a scaredy-cat but he was a little angry anyway. He gave her a bit of his sandwich outside the door that he meant to keep for lunch because he felt a little bad.

That was four lies he'd told in two days, the most lies he'd ever told. His Mother wasn't a traitor but maybe she'd raised a rotten son. As he pushed open the door and the dog walked in with him.

Takahashi was distracted for a moment from shouting at him for being late. "Kinta Deidara, why is that mutt here, get it out of my classroom immediately" he bellowed, spit flying from his mouth and into Deidara's face.

He winced as Takahashi took a step forward but then remembered the letter his Mother had given him. He pulled it out of his bag and handed it to his Sensei, holding it as far away from his body as was humanly possible.

His Sensei stopped as he tore it open, reading it out loud as if it was a note that Deidara had been caught trying to pass to another pupil.

"Sensei Takahashi, Please turn to page 13 of the Iwa Academy Rulebook that I have enclosed". As he turned the pages his scowl just got bigger. Deidara didn't think he'd also read the rule but surprisingly he did. "When applicable, any ninja at any level of ability may bring a trained hound with them to class as long as 1: The dog is not disruptive and 2. The dog has already imprinted on its owner".

His Sensei's face went red with rage and he just grabbed Deidara's wrist and pulled him forward, then giving him a harsh shove towards his desk.

The rest of the day went smoothly. Yusushi still wasn't friends with him and each hour went by slowly as Deidara felt more and more awkward. Lunch went by quickly because the pink haired girls had not kept their promise and many people Deidara had never met before were rushing up to him and asking him if the rumours were true. Yusushi was not one of them and sat in the corner they used to sit in together, when Deidara tried to speak to him, he just walked away.

Eventually after another few hours in class, Deidara sent him a note asking if they were still friends. Yusushi just stood up without reading it and placed it in the bin at the top of class. Takahashi barked something at him for leaving his seat but Yusushi just ignored him as usual.

After school, he walked out in the playground and sat with Hanabi beside his tree. The sunlight filtering through the branches and caused his bright blue eyes to water slightly. He closed his eyes and nearly fell asleep, there in the sunlight when he was once again lifted to his feet.

"Oi faggot, so you kissed Emiko then did ya?" asked Kin, his voice quiet but filled with murderous intent.

Deidara nodded his head under the strain of being lifted off his feet.

"Well then…" Kin said, leaning in close to his face.

Deidara could smell his breath and it stunk like rotten food. He was waiting for the punches to land when suddenly Kin dropped him and roared, "Welcome to the Warriors of the Rock".

The blonde boy stood up properly and smiled wildly. Aiko smiled back but Kin was too busy jumping from foot-to-foot in mock celebration and hitting them both forcefully on the backs.

As Deidara looked off into the distance and noticed Yusushi standing staring at him. The brunette gestured for him to come over but when Deidara began to walk, he was stopped by Kin.

"Hey, ya don't have to hang out with people like dat anymore, come on with us" Kin said bluntly, pointing towards the village.

So Deidara turned and walked away with the two boys, leaving his quiet friend alone.


End file.
